Patient’s Wishes and Dying with Dignity
Kalyn Woodington RN
After the palliative care made rounds on the afternoon shift, they were able to get a hold of Mr. D’s only relative: a niece who was not close with him but apparently had called the ambulance for him to come to the hospital.

A Purpose
Brianna Ensor
In 1st grade I lost my best friend to Leukemia, which made me realize I wanted to be a nurse. I want to specialize in pediatric oncology because my cousin touched my life even at a young age.

Clinical Decision Support Need for Standardization
Dr. Chandrashekhar Bhoopalam
Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) is interactive software that assists physicians in decision-making about their patients. The system utilize data from pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, and other patient monitoring systems to help physicians in enhancing patient care. Statistics show an increase in the number of medical institutions adopting CDSS in pursuit of reducing errors, improving the nursing documentation and improving patient outcomes. This paper discusses errors arising from the use of CDSS and ways of preventing them.

Do We Really Know Who Our Patients Are?
Maureen Kroning RN EdD
The profession of nursing has become so task orientated that we often forget to ask, "Who is our patient? ”What was their life like prior to becoming ill?" With advances in technology and the business atmosphere of healthcare nurses are often not able to provide patients with one of the most fundamental core competencies of nursing, caring.

Managing Diabetic Patients on Dialysis: The Nurse and Practitioners Role in Multidisciplinary Team Essentials
By: Dr. Gary D. Goldberg, PhD
Clinical Professor of Medical Education, and Consultant
Angeles College of Nursing,
Los Angeles, California
The chronic state of diabetes mellitus (DM) mainly type II, is an increasingly common cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in all countries, accounting for 51% of dialysis patients in the U.S. and 39% in Europe. Patient survival is much worse than for non-diabetic patients, with a large proportion of patients dying within the first 3 months of dialysis (excluded from USRDS data). In North America, chronic diabetes (e.g., poorly controlled), has shown as a major cause of death associated with cardiovascular diseases. Usually the outcome is better for transplanted patients.

Maximizing Pain Relief in Pediatric Patients
by Andrea Calvani, BSN, Paula Bylaska-Davies, BSN, MSN
Pain management is a complex issue that has become increasingly significant in the nursing profession; so much so that the assessment of pain has become known as the fifth vital sign. This issue becomes even more crucial when attempting to manage pain in pediatric patients.